At the entrance of the bar, Li Xiangcao and the woman in leather walked out. Instead of driving, they walked side by side down the street.
"Xiao Chuan, should we follow them?" Qin Yang asked.
Qin Chuan shook his head, "Let's wait. They're walking, and if we drive, it will be too obvious. Let's wait until they've gone a distance."
To their surprise, Li Xiangcao and the leather-clad woman only walked a short distance before stopping. It turned out there was an alleyway with several food stalls at the entrance – selling everything from savory crepes and egg-filled pancakes to grilled meat, stinky tofu, ice congee, and mung bean soup.
The two women seemed to be buying food, standing aside and talking to the vendors, and eventually paid for their purchases.
"What the heck!" The brothers in the car were stunned. What should they do now?
They were also starving, especially seeing the delicious snacks being sold. They were practically drooling.
There was nothing they could do but endure. It really wasn't the time to meet them. After the two women finished buying their food and left, they would just buy something to make do.
However, as if deliberately targeting them, Li Xiangcao and the leather-clad woman, after buying their food, didn't leave. Instead, they sat on small stools, chatting and laughing while enjoying their meal.
Half an hour passed. The two women, eating one thing and then another, still showed no sign of leaving. This torture for the waiting Qin Chuan and Qin Yang brothers was unbearable. They stared intently at the food stalls, their eyes straining.
Now, they could leave, having waited so long. But if they didn't leave, they didn't know how much longer the women would be there.
Finally, after the brothers' desperate wait, Li Xiangcao and the leather-clad woman, who were far away, finished eating and drinking and returned to the bar with laughter.
Only then did Qin Chuan tell his elder brother to quickly drive to the food stalls. The brothers got out of the car and ordered a huge table full of food, a wide variety of dishes, which shocked the vendors at several stalls.
"Can they eat all this?"
Ignoring the strange looks from those around them, the brothers sat down and began to devour the food.
As they were enjoying their meal, a familiar voice suddenly came from nearby, "Boss, I thought I saw you selling Tai Steel soda just now, do you still have any?"
The moment he heard this voice, Qin Yang, sitting opposite Qin Chuan, instinctively looked up. Qin Chuan didn't have time to stop him.
"Brother Qin Yang?"
As expected, when Qin Yang looked up at the owner of the voice, the other person also saw Qin Yang, and was extremely surprised.
"I...I...you..."
At this moment, Qin Yang finally realized the trouble his looking up had caused. He became nervous and flustered, not knowing what to say.
Noticing his elder brother's reaction, Qin Chuan sighed and slowly turned around to face Li Xiangcao, who was standing right behind them. "Xiangcao, what a coincidence!"
"Qin...Qin Chuan?!"
If Li Xiangcao was merely surprised to see Qin Yang, then seeing Qin Chuan turn around was genuine shock. Even though the alleyway was dimly lit, the disbelief on Li Xiangcao's face was evident.
"You...how did you two end up here?" Li Xiangcao asked, shocked.
"My brother and I are here in Longcheng for some business. We were passing by this street just now and were hungry, so we stopped to eat. What about you?" Qin Chuan pretended to be oblivious.
"I... I'm just visiting friends nearby, buying some things!" Li Xiangcao replied.
After they spoke, a silence fell between them, with no further topics of conversation, until the vendor's voice rang out, "Miss, here's the soda you wanted!"
"Oh, thank you! Here's the money!" Li Xiangcao took the two bottles of soda and turned to leave.
Seeing Li Xiangcao about to leave with the soda, Qin Chuan became anxious and reached out to grab her arm. "Xiangcao, wait a moment!"
"Qin Chuan, what are you doing? Let go of me!" Grabbed by the arm, Li Xiangcao felt as if she had been electrocuted. She quickly turned and reprimanded him coldly, with a hint of anger.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Qin Chuan quickly let go and apologized. He had only acted instinctively when he saw Li Xiangcao about to leave. Since the brothers had been seen by Li Xiangcao, their whereabouts were exposed. She would surely report it to Liu An. Since that was the case, they might as well have an open conversation and stop hiding from each other.
"But...Xiangcao, I think we need to have a good talk!"
Li Xiangcao said coldly, "I have nothing to talk to you about. Goodbye!" With that, she turned and left quickly.
Seeing this, Qin Chuan sighed and glanced at his helpless elder brother. "Pack up all that food, let's go!"
Qin Yang quickly packed everything and nervously followed Qin Chuan. "I'm sorry, Xiao Chuan! I really didn't mean to just now..." His looking up had disrupted many plans. Qin Yang realized the seriousness of the situation, especially after he had repeatedly said just minutes ago that it wasn't the right time to meet Li Xiangcao. Unexpectedly, fate intervened so quickly.
"It's not your fault. Who could have expected that Li Xiangcao would come back to the food stalls for Tai Steel soda!"
"It seems like fate has arranged all of this. Since that's the case, there's no need for us to keep hiding. It's time to have a good chat with Li Xiangcao!" Qin Chuan comforted his elder brother as he spoke.
About ten meters ahead, Li Xiangcao walked quickly. She knew the Qin brothers were following her. As she neared her bar, Li Xiangcao felt a great deal of panic and indecision. She hesitated whether to enter her bar. If she did, her safety would be guaranteed, but her shop would be exposed. If she didn't enter, she thought of Qin Chuan's ruthless and cruel methods. Even Liu An's large contingent had suffered greatly at his hands and never returned. Li Xiangcao dared not imagine what would happen if she fell into his hands alone...
After much deliberation, Li Xiangcao gritted her teeth and decided to run into her bar quickly, shouting, "Sister Yan, help! Help!!" Safety was the most important thing right now; her life was worth more than her shop.
Inside the bar, Qi Yan, who was cleaning, heard Li Xiangcao's desperate cries. Thinking something unexpected had happened, she rushed out, a cleaning rag in her hand. As she rushed into the main hall, she saw Li Xiangcao running in in a panic, and at the revolving glass door, two men were entering.
The moment she clearly saw the faces of Qin Chuan and Qin Yang, Qi Yan's pupils contracted violently, and her body tensed with wariness. Having stayed in Yongnan County for a period, she naturally recognized the Qin brothers, and had an exceptionally deep memory of Qin Chuan.
Qi Yan was internally shocked. How could Qin Chuan be here? But now was not the time to dwell on that. Li Xiangcao, hiding behind her, was pale with fear, clutching her clothes tightly and saying repeatedly, "Sister Yan, quickly drive them away! They've been following me!"
"Qin Chuan, what do you want?"
"In broad daylight, do you intend to pull the same stunt you pulled in Yongnan County? This is Longcheng, not your broken county town!" Qi Yan snapped.
Qin Chuan looked at Li Xiangcao, hiding behind Qi Yan, with a bit of speechlessness and explained, "Miss, I think you've misunderstood!"
"We weren't following her the whole time. We just happened to meet in the alleyway next door. I wanted to talk to Xiangcao, and she got scared and hid in here."
"Look, if you don't believe me, you can see what my brother is holding. These barbecue, pancakes, and drinks were all packed from over there."
"The vendors over there can testify that we just happened to bump into each other."